Youngsters of all ages got a chance to rock out, Sled Island style, at the National Music Centre's series of all-ages concerts.

“We really like playing all-ages shows,” proclaimed Luke Cyca, drummer for Vancouver's Beekeeper, as 200 fans boogied and congaed their way through the early set. “All the kids up and dancing with us, that's what we like to see.”

Some of the kids were doing a lot more than just dancing along. At the tender age of 14, Rachael Schroeder was the youngest performer at Sled Island. She certainly held her own against all those seasoned twenty-somethings. “I just saw my daughter perform. It's like winning the lottery,” her proud dad declared with a huge grin.

Everybody won the lottery when the ever-cheesy Nardwuar and the Evaporators raised the roof and the mercury with their highly interactive brand of rock’n’roll. The packed room of partyers followed Nardwuar in a conga line, but that was just the beginning. A surprise appearance by Sled Island guest curator and party king himself, Andrew WK, amped up the whole enterprise. With WK rocking the keyboards, a crash-helmeted Nardwuar body-surfed the room. "Did you see the crowd surfing?” queried one flushed fan. “Cross-country rock’n’roll is what that was!”

When the show finally wrapped up at 9 pm, an hour past the bedtime of one beaming five-year-old who had just had his picture taken with Andrew WK, everyone was glowing. One sweaty, smiling, and very satisfied fan summed it up. “That was such an awesome show! Where do you go from here?”

Last week, for fans from five to 85, Sled provided Calgarians with so many amazing musical places to go that we lost count. East Village was thrilled to be part of it.

Check out Nardwuar’s antics and get some Feist bliss from Sled’s June 22 wrap up video.